> On Jul 20, 2006, at 7:46 AM, Michael Hoover wrote:
> > as for _right turn_, what ferguson and rogers were correct about at
> > the time the book appeared in the mid-80s was that there was no - and
> > i would maintain there is still no - basis for a conservative voting
> > bloc majority, they showed that general public opinion ran contrary -
> > often quite strongly - to just about every reagan agenda item...
>
> So why was the guy re-elected by a big margin, why'd he leave office
> with a 63% approval rating, and why is he retrospectively rated as
> our "greatest" president? Theories like Ferguson's don't want to
> confront the deep conservative streak in US political culture - it's
> all manipulation by the Big Guys, and the little folks just go along
> for the ride. If that were really the case, wouldn't union and issue
> organizing be a lot easier than it really is?
> Doug
<<<<<>>>>>
re-elected on basis of 53% turnout...
clinton left office with higher approval rating...
rated "greatest" prez by whom, one poll - maybe gallup - that received attention had 20% saying reagan, however, one might consider that this poll was done not too long after reagan, moreover, 15% in this poll ranked clinton #1 and he came in 2nd overall...
other polls show different rankings, most interesting feature - imo - is that both reagan and clinton score high across the board...
relationship between public opinion and public policy (as well as electoral outcomes and public policy) is indirect, public preferences offer policymakers broad guidelines within which to operate, importance of public opinion is its 'capacity' to block wholly objectionable policies rather than its 'ability' to specify particular policy mandates, policies by and large will be at least tolerable for most people (or most voters)...
question of who has had greater influence on u.s. labor law - business or unions - is both interesting and important...current circumstances shaped largely by success of corporate mobilization in defeating 1978 reform act and subsequent anti-labor campaigns in congress *and* by corporate anti-NLRB campaign that began in the 1960s and which to this day has received insufficient attention... mh